THE OLDSMOBILE UPDATE

"AMERICA'S TEAM AT LE MANS":  THE BID FOR RACING'S TRIPLE CROWN

Saturday, June 15, 1996; 9:00 p.m. 

                         SIX HOUR NOTES

ON THE ROCKS.  Jim Pace had a big "moment" in the Riley & Scott 
Mk-III at 7:30 p.m. at the high-speed Indianapolis Curve.  The 
car sustained minor damage as it went off course into a gravel 
trap.  Pace was able to extricate the car from the gravel and 
drive back to the pits, where the Riley & Scott crew removed a 
large pile of rocks from the radiator inlet, brake ducts, and 
cockpit.  The crew installed four new tires, and the car returned 
to competition at 7:36, having lost two more laps to the leader.

8:00 (five hours):  Pace is 17th, 70 laps completed, four laps 
behind the leading TWR Porsche of Reuter/Jones/Wurz.

8:14:  Pace makes routine stop for fuel.  Crew checks brake 
rotors.

8:50:  Pace brings car in for scheduled major service.  After 
refueling in pit lane, the car is pushed back into the garage for 
new brake pads and rotors.  Once inside the garage, 12 crew 
members swarm over the car.  Several more buckets of rocks are 
removed from the cockpit.  Wayne Taylor replaces Pace.  The car 
is serviced and back on the track in 13 minutes and 56 seconds.

     "I came through the fast sweeping turn before the 
Indianapolis Curve and didn't get the car slowed down enough," 
Pace reported.  "If you go perfectly straight, there's an access 
road, and I thought I could buy myself some time if I went for 
it.  The brakes were locked, and I tried to ease off on the brake 
to get the car turned -- but as I came over the rise, the car 
went straight into the gravel pit.

     "The nose dug in, took a big scoop of gravel, and dumped it 
in the car.  There was about a cubic yard of rocks in the 
driver's compartment.  The car still felt great in the corners, 
but the brake pads were getting thin and the pedal was going 
soft, so I had to move up my brake points.  It was time for a 
change."

9:00 (six hours):  The Riley & Scott Oldsmobile is 17th, 95 laps 
completed, 8 laps behind the leader.

     "We're good for another six hours on the new brake pads and 
rotors," said crew chief Mark Scott.  "One of the rear rotors was 
cracked, as we had suspected."

     The 4.0-liter Aurora V8 has run flawlessly for six hours, 
requiring only one quart of oil at the 6-hour mark.


                              # # #